Flower and a Flyer

Before leaving Baker's Lake, I did find a flower or two to photograph, then looked back and saw a low-flying heron headed back to the Rookery.  Love his shadow on the water.

Baker's Lake

Baker's Lake is right along Rt. 14 in Barrington and its feature is a Heron Rookery.  What looks like an artificial island is a structure just designed to support herons and egrets along with cormorants for the spring and summer mating and birthing seasons.  Look closely and notice that the white spots are egrets.  At various times the adults tend to swoop in toward shore, perhaps looking for food to share with the little ones, but on this afternoon, no birds approached the shore for the benefit of my camera.

Raptors

A Sharp-Shinned Hawk heading in one direction, and a Great Blue Heron in the opposite one.

Blue Heron at St. James

Recent posts have depicted a Great Blue Heron in my backyard pond two years ago, along with another heron as well as a Snowy Egret in the retention pond down the street. It was noted then that these birds are magnificent animals in flight and while wading in a public pond, though they are not really welcome in the private koi pool.

The first bird I got a clear shot of at St. James Farm was a heron, in full flight, passing nearly overhead on a bright blue clear-sky morning. Having seen herons standing and in flight, and knowing how the still figure morphs into the flying figure, I still marvel at the sleek and stylish heron in flight. Doesn't look all that much like the wading fish hunter!

Next post will return to St. James Farm for some fences and structures.

Blue Heron Returns

Only one day after my post accepting the angelic egret at the retention pond and rejecting the blue heron in my backyard pond, there he was, but on neutral territory. So I have decided I can accept him there; any fish he finds would be 'fair game.'

I found him standing in the reeds, looking west. My pond is due east of the retention. Of course, when he took off, he headed east for about 50 yards, and I wondered if I should get back into the car or leave it there and run home to chase him before he tried to catch his dinner. Then he turned north and powered his way out of sight. Impressive flight power for a large bird.

So any neutral ground is OK, blue. Just stay out of my yard.

Blue Heron

A recent post showed a current photo of an angelic snowy egret about to light in a local retention pond. The description talked about a couple of years ago when our own koi pond was stalked by a blue heron and as I read over it, I realized it sounded very much as if I thought the heron had a distinctively sneaky personality.

If it sounded that way, I am pleased that I captured the feeling I had at the time. This critter stood on a berm overlooking the koi and had a look that suggested attendance at a rich buffet, filled with fresh food. Here we see the beady eye checking out the seafood.

Glad I was able to chase him often enough to protect our current school of nine koi. As long as the egret stays down on the corner, he is on my good list. This fellow is always on my bad list.

Context Means Lots

Context. As a writer and as a former English teacher I understand the power of context. Whatever it is we are considering, the elements that surround it and affect it mean everything. For example, two years ago a great blue heron found its way onto the berm around my pond and stood there, eyeing the koi below. I chased him and thought I had scared him. I had not.

He returned and gored a four-pond koi. The fish was apparently too large for the heron to eat, and the bird got no meal from the deal, but the koi wound up in my pond skimmer and died soon after. I had to string fishing line all around and across the pond to prevent the heron from returning to finish his meal. A great blue around or in my pond -- in that context -- is something I do not wish to see again.

Yesterday as I took a walk down my block and got to the retention pond only about two hundred yards away, a snowy egret was standing in that pond eyeing the surface, apparently looking for an unsuspecting fish. When I got close enough for a photo, he spread those impressive wings and flew across the pond. That mere two hundred yards -- that differing context -- made all the difference. No fishing line, no chasing, just some photography. My favorite shows the massive wingspan just as he was about to fold the wings and step back into the water. Wonder if he found a meal.

He is welcome down there as far as I am concerned -- as long as he stays down there!